Two websites promoting polygamy have seen their Indian membership soar in the last one month. The UK-based founder of SecondWife.com (for Muslims) and Polygamy.com (for non-Muslims) told TOI that his websites feature India among top five countries-Indians make up 10%, or over 10,100 members.
india.com/Representative Image
This comes at a time when the Supreme Court is examining a plea to ban polygamy and triple talaq in India. Initial analysis by the websites shows that Indians who have signed up are between 20 and 35 years of age. Among the members, 30% are women, claims founder Azad Chaiwala.
SecondWife.com was started in December 2014 for Muslims wanting to marry again.
SecondWife.com got 3,534 sign-ups soon after its launch in 2014. This increased to 13,797 in 2015, and currently, 83,435 people have signed up to explore the possibility of finding "love again". Polygamy.com, started in January this year, has 17,896 members.
A self-confessed believer in polygamy, Chaiwala aims to have three wives though he currently has only one. How are his websites different from the plethora of dating apps?
"Dating apps tend to be sleazy, they let you swipe right and left based on looks alone and allow you to message whoever and whenever. We blur photos and don't let you view a profile until you have completed your own. We have bots which delete profiles with flagged keywords such as sex, hook-ups, money, etc as we want quality over quantity. We do our part by providing the service and offering advice via our Practical Marriage Guide YouTube channel. If someone wants to use a website to meet for sex only, every other website out there would be easier to connect than ours. We even limit how many people someone can message per day on our site,'' he says.
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However, once couples meet up, matters are in their hands. "We pray things work out well and they follow the advice and guidance we offer," says Chaiwala.
Though not recognised by law, polygamy is practised in India. There have been several high-profile cases, including one in Bollywood. According to Census 2011, there are 6.6 million more married women than men in India. Of the total 1.2 billion population, about 580 million are married. This number does not include those divorced, widowed or separated. Among these 580 million married people, 293 million are women and 287 million men.
So, have people found the second wife they are looking for? "I have had over 100 thank you letters from people who have got married and want their account deleted," says Chaiwala.